Pressure swing adsorption modeling of acetone and toluene on activated carbon

Abstract

A five steps pressure swing adsorption process was designed for acetone and toluene mixtures separation and recovery. Dynamic distributions of gas phase content and temperature were investigated. Based on the theory of Soret and Dufour, a non-isothermal mathematical model was developed to simulate the PSA process. Effects of heat and mass transfer coefficients were studied. The coupled Soret and Dufour effects were also evaluated. It is found that the heat transfer coefficient has little effect on mass transfer in adsorption stage. However, it has some impacts in desorption stage. The maximum value of C/C₀ increases by about 25% as heat transfer coefficient decreases. The temperature variation is less than 0.05 K with the change of mass transfer coefficient, so that the effect of mass transfer coefficient on heat transfer can be ignored. It is also concluded that the Soret and Dufour coupled effects are not obvious in pressure swing adsorption compared with fixed-bed adsorption.

Keywords

pressure swing adsorption / heat transfer / mass transfer / Soret and Dufour effects / activated carbon

References

[1] VekshaA, SasaokaE, UddinM A. The influence of porosity and surface oxygen groups of peat-based activated carbons on benzene adsorption from dry and humid air [J]. Carbon, 2009, 47(10): 2371-2378

[2] LiL, QuinlivanP A, KnappeD R U. Effects of activated carbon surface chemistry and pore structure on the adsorption of organic contaminants from aqueous solution [J]. Carbon, 2002, 40(12): 2085-2100

[3] Lillo-RódenasM A, Cazorla-AmorósD, Linares-SolanoA. Behaviour of activated carbons with different pore size distributions and surface oxygen groups for benzene and toluene adsorption at low concentrations [J]. Carbon, 2005, 43(8): 1758-1767

[4] SerbezovA S, SotirchosS V. Mathematical modeling of the adsorptive separation of multicomponent gaseous mixtures [J]. Chemical Engineering Science, 1997, 52(1): 79-91

[5] SerbezovA S, SotirchosS V. Particle-bed model for multicomponent adsorption-based separations: Application to pressure swing adsorption [J]. Chemical Engineering Science, 1999, 54(23): 5647-5666

[6] JeeJ G, KimM B, LeeC H. Pressure swing adsorption process to purify oxygen using a carbon molecular sieve [J]. Chemical Engineering Science, 2005, 60(3): 869-882

[7] KoD, SiriwardaneR, BieglerL T. Optimization of pressure swing adsorption and fractionated vacuum pressure swing adsorption processes for CO2 capture [J]. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2005, 44(21): 8084-8094

[8] LiuY-j, RitterJ A, KaulB K. Simulation of gasoline vapor recovery by pressure swing adsorption [J]. Separation and Purification Technology, 2000, 20(1): 111-127

[9] DelageF, PréP, CloirecP L E. Mass transfer and warming during adsorption of high concentrations of VOCs on an activated carbon bed: Experimental and theoretical analysis [J]. Environmental Science & Technology, 2000, 34(22): 4816-4821

[10] IyukeS E, DaudW R W, MohamadA B, KadhumA A H, FisalZ, ShariffA M. Application of Sn-activated carbon in pressure swing adsorption for purification of H₂ [J]. Chemical Engineering Science, 2000, 55(20): 4745-4755

[11] GalesL, MendesA, CostaC. Recovery of acetone, ethyl acetate and ethanol by thermal pressure swing adsorption [J]. Chemical Engineering Science, 2003, 58(23/24): 5279-5289

[12] LeeD G, KimJ H, LeeC H. Adsorption and thermal regeneration of acetone and toluene vapors in dealuminated Y-zeolite bed [J]. Separation and Purification Technology, 2011, 77(3): 312-324

[13] MartynenkoO G, PavlyukevichN V. Heat and mass transfer in porous media [J]. Journal of Engineering Physics and Thermophysics, 1998, 71(1): 1-13

[14] PostelnicuA. Influence of a magnetic field on heat and mass transfer by natural convection from vertical surfaces in porous media considering Soret and Dufour effects [J]. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2004, 47(6/7): 1467-1472

[15] PostelnicuA. Influence of chemical reaction on heat and mass transfer by natural convection from vertical surface in porous media considering Soret and Dufour effects [J]. Heat Mass Transfer, 2007, 43(6): 595-602

[16] CoelhoR M L, TellesA S. Extended graetz problem accompanied by Dufour and Soret effects [J]. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2002, 45(15): 3101-3110

[17] PostelnicuA. Heat and mass transfer by natural convection at a stagnation point in a porous medium considering Soret and Dufour effects [J]. Heat Mass Transfer, 2010, 46(8/9): 831-840

[18] ChengC Y. Soret and Dufour effects on natural convection heat and mass transfer from a vertical cone in a porous medium [J]. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 2009, 36(10): 1020-1024

[19] GaikwadS N, MalashettyM S, PrasadK R. Linear and non-linear double diffusive convection in a fluid-saturated anisotropic porous layer with cross-diffusion effects [J]. Transport in Porous Media, 2009, 80(3): 537-560

[20] LiL-qingTheoretical and experimental study on the treatment of organic vapors by adsorption and pressure swing adsorption (PSA) [D], 2004ChangshaHunan University

[21] LiL-q, LiuZ, XinJ-d, SongJ-f, TangLin. Adsorption modeling with Soret-Like and Dufour effects of a two-component organic gas on activated carbon [J]. Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data, 2012, 57(2): 568-576

[22] SerbezovA, SotirchosS V. Mathematical modeling of multicomponent nonisothermal adsorption in sorbent particles under pressure swing conditions [J]. Adsorption, 1998, 4(2): 93-111

[23] RuthvenD MPrinciples of adsorption and adsorption processes [M], 1984New YorkJohn Wiley & Sons

[24] YangR TGas separation by adsorption processes [M], 1986USAButterworth Publishers

[25] LiL-q, LiuZ, QinY-x, SongJ-f, TangLin. Estimation of volatile organic compound mass transfer coefficients in the vacuum desorption of acetone from activated carbon [J]. Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data, 2010, 55(11): 4732-4740

[26] LiL-q, ZhuZ-s, QinY-x, SongJ-f, LiuX-yan. Simulation on isotherm adsorption of two-component organic gas and heat and mass transfer analysis [J]. Proceedings of the CSEE, 2008, 28(26): 46-52